Jesse Plemons, who stars in The Power of the Dog, reveals the moment when co-star Benedict Cumberbatch’s method acting upset him. Plemons appears in the Jane Campion-directed neo-Western film as the rancher George Burbank, who is the brother of Cumberbatch’s Phil. The actor gained wide recognition during his appearance in Breaking Bad, and within the past decade has taken on increasingly high-profile roles in Hollywood films like Vice, The Irishman, and Jungle Cruise. Alongside the rest of The Power of the Dog’s cast (which includes his real-life wife Kirsten Dunst), Plemons’ performance has been praised by critics and audiences, and several of his co-stars have been nominated for major awards.
The Power of the Dog, which is a Netflix original, has been showered with nominations as the year’s awards season has accelerated, including in the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Score, and acting categories. Cumberbatch, who used the method approach to portray his character, has already been nominated as the year’s Best Actor at the Golden Globes (though he lost out to Will Smith) and the SAG awards, and he is expected to be nominated at the upcoming Academy Awards. Plemons and Cumberbatch’s co-star, Kodi Smit-McPhee, has also received critical acclaim for his role in the film, winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.
Now, in an interview with Variety, Plemons discloses that Cumberbatch’s method acting almost caused trouble on set. The actor reveals that Cumberbatch upset him by calling him “big boy.” Plemons shares that the comment “pissed him off,” though it was attributable to Cumberbatch’s approach to the character and the British actor would later apologize for the remark. Check out Plemons’ full comments below:
“There was one time [Benedict Cumberbatch] got under my skin. He was like, ‘Hey, big boy.’ It wasn’t ‘fatso.’ I feel like a few people in life have been like, ‘Hey, big boy,’ and I was like, ‘Goddamn it. What the f**k.’ [I later told him the remark] pissed me off. He was like, ‘I’m so sorry.’ I was like, ‘No, don’t worry. It was great.’”
Method acting is a controversial topic, and one that has caused trouble on sets before. Jared Leto is a noted method actor (other well-known proponents include Heath Ledger and Lady Gaga) and famously took the approach too far by sending disgusting parcels to his co-stars while portraying the Joker in Suicide Squad. While Cumberbatch’s antics didn’t go anywhere near that far, Plemons’ comments do highlight that life on-set isn't always plane sailing.
Fans of Plemons, Cumberbatch, and The Power of the Dog will now focus on the highly anticipated nominations for the Academy Awards, as well as the actors’ future roles. Plemons is set to have a leading role in the next Martin Scorsese film, Killers of the Flower Moon, which is a Western crime-drama. Meanwhile, Cumberbatch will head-up the next MCU release, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Source: Variety